Inquisitor by R.J. Blain

I have to say, I was excited when I heard RJ Blain was putting out a paranormal mystery—or as she calls it, an Urban Fantasy. For so many years, I’ve heard her talk about epic fantasy or just swords and magic kind of deal in her books.

The one thing that caught my eye was the werewolf thing. I’m a sucker for a badass werewolf, not that crap on Twilight. I relate because I have quite a few were characters in my series, so I wanted to read this right away.

But what drove me to buy it was the cover of the book. It just screamed that something good was going to happen in this novel. Here is the awesome cover, which you can click on it twice to see in more detail:

(R.J. Blain’s Inquisitor front and back cover, used with her permission. Cover art (c) R.J. Blain and Chris Howard, 2014.)

I used the last five dollars I had to buy this book on my Kindle app and I read it on Friday. Two hours and nine chapters later, I realized I had my own stuff to do and that I hadn’t gotten it done.

But enough on that. The review, yes.

The plot was beautifully set up. A murder at a Halloween party while pretending to be her friend’s fiancee. Wow. Talk about interweaving things together. You get to try to figure out along with Allison why she has been framed for murder and drag her best friend along for the ride too.

That leads into me talking about her characters.

From the side ones to her main, they are done in a way that you can relate to each one. The asshole boss that is out for himself. The best friend that wants to help no matter how bad her situation is. The main character who while at times can be dark is also hilariously funny with how she refers to herself and her friends.

It was that which earned five stars on her characterization.

What I found enjoyable was how modern the setting was. Sure, they were in New York but it was the cultural stores that did it for me, Wal-Mart being the prominent one. How she used modern companies such as American Express and depicted ruthless cutthroat lawyers. Even the plot for a paranormal seemed rather believable but not too over the top like some other authors.

The best part? There wasn’t one entire sexual scene in it. In a lot of novels nowadays, that’s a rarity without them leading into sex.

The pacing was a little fast, but that’s because I’m used to Blain’s other novels. Most of the time she builds up to her climatic scenes and makes you guess what’s going to happen and who is going to be killed. (Her characters do take a beating in other novels, not going to lie there.) However in this book, it was paced well enough that you weren’t lost or wondering what was going to happen next. So five stars for her there.

If you’re interested in it or just want something new to read, Blain interweaves more than just paranormal mystery here. This could be for all audiences who are looking for a good book on one particular afternoon.

The best part is that there’s going to be more of them on the way, so collect this gem while you still can.

(R.J. Blain has permission to use this to promote this series of novels on her website or on book tours.)